Reply to: Free plants! (If you're in Devon)

[ladymuck]

If you've got a student loan to pay off (remember, unlike some of us older ones, there's no free tertiary education, or "grants" on top, if you were lucky.)

It's funny how a free plants giveaway is turned by some into a row about lazy brits, greedy shops etc. Easier to throw muck than sell plants.

I was merely making an observation. I think the company are doing the right thing - give it away rather than chuck it on the compost heap.

[vetran]

Well this IS General. Keep up!

indeed!

[WTFH]

Well this IS General. Keep up!

Shirley you'd be interested in free stuff near you. Or have you moved out of the area, which would explain the rise in house prices?

[shaunbhoy]

It's funny how a free plants giveaway is turned by some into a row about lazy brits, greedy shops etc. Easier to throw muck than sell plants.

Well this IS General. Keep up!

[WTFH]

Ok so the headline rate obscured the actual rates given in the job spec. I didn't realise that. I see you'd only get the £9-£10 an hour if you signed up to the performance bonus scheme. Not sure what I think of the 'opportunity' to work 40-50 hours a week in peak season

If you've got a student loan to pay off (remember, unlike some of us older ones, there's no free tertiary education, or "grants" on top, if you were lucky.)

It's funny how a free plants giveaway is turned by some into a row about lazy brits, greedy shops etc. Easier to throw muck than sell plants.

[shaunbhoy]

I may toddle down there and grab some fruit trees

Not far from me either but I think you'll probably find that it is only likely to be the seasonal excess plants that are all on their last legs anyway.
May swing by myself and take a look but not getting my hopes up of too many real bargains.

[ladymuck]

Lidl are generally considered excellent employers with good career progression,

Lidl do pay living wages unlike many supermarkets.

No but as the argument is the garden centre cannot get staff and they are paying acceptable money. I chose a respected large employer looking for a similar skill set then showed the wage is £4 higher. HGV drivers are in shortage at present so wages are in flux.

It seems the garden centre are offering "multi drop" and dealing with the public. This is far less popular with lorry drivers than long distance which the Thrive are offering. Multi drop is stressful and tends to drag out just as it was when we did deliveries 30 years ago, the customers were always irate if their afternoon delivery turned up after 12:30.

Most lorry drivers either prefer trunk (between depots) or long distance between companies normally. Less traffic and idiot customers.

If you have ever done delivery for the public they expect all kinds of extra service they didn't pay for even though you are on 20+ deliveries a day.

Ok so the headline rate obscured the actual rates given in the job spec. I didn't realise that. I see you'd only get the £9-£10 an hour if you signed up to the performance bonus scheme. Not sure what I think of the 'opportunity' to work 40-50 hours a week in peak season

[vetran]

Where did you get £7-£8.50 an hour? The lowest paid job is £9-£10 a hour.

Sounds like you're saying all HGV 2 drivers should be paid the same hourly rate and that different rates of pay across different companies is a bad thing? It's not exploitation to not pay the same as other local companies.

If the applicant wants an extra £4 a hour, they're welcome to go and work for Lidl instead. What if the garden centre were really nice to work for and Lidl were monsters? Is that £4 an hour worth it then?

Higher Rates of Pay than Minimum Wage for Younger Employees – we can offer immediate start vacancies

We can offer the following higher rates of pay after an initial training period:

17 to 18 years of age – £7.00 per hour

19 to 22 years of age – £8.50 per hour

Lidl are generally considered excellent employers with good career progression,

Lidl do pay living wages unlike many supermarkets.

No but as the argument is the garden centre cannot get staff and they are paying acceptable money. I chose a respected large employer looking for a similar skill set then showed the wage is £4 higher. HGV drivers are in shortage at present so wages are in flux.

It seems the garden centre are offering "multi drop" and dealing with the public. This is far less popular with lorry drivers than long distance which the Thrive are offering. Multi drop is stressful and tends to drag out just as it was when we did deliveries 30 years ago, the customers were always irate if their afternoon delivery turned up after 12:30.

Most lorry drivers either prefer trunk (between depots) or long distance between companies normally. Less traffic and idiot customers.

If you have ever done delivery for the public they expect all kinds of extra service they didn't pay for even though you are on 20+ deliveries a day.

[ladymuck]

wow £7-£8.50 an hour

nearly as much as Lidl pay in Yeovil on start £9.50 - £10.70

https://www.google.com/search?q=lidl...:1628697481360

Thrive are paying £17 an hour for class2 HGV drivers in Yeovil not £13.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hgv+...B0AAAAAA%3D%3D

Where did you get £7-£8.50 an hour? The lowest paid job is £9-£10 a hour.

Sounds like you're saying all HGV 2 drivers should be paid the same hourly rate and that different rates of pay across different companies is a bad thing? It's not exploitation to not pay the same as other local companies.

If the applicant wants an extra £4 a hour, they're welcome to go and work for Lidl instead. What if the garden centre were really nice to work for and Lidl were monsters? Is that £4 an hour worth it then?

[OwlHoot]

Anyone in the Exeter/Newton Abbot/Plymouth area, Plants Galore are giving away a lot of their plants starting on Friday.

https://growndirect.co.uk

Thanks for the heads up. It's not far from me, so I may toddle down there and grab some fruit trees

[d000hg]

The pay rates are on the website. Above NMW, but customers want cheap products, so either lower paid staff or higher prices to customers.
Unfortunately the GBeebies generation prefer to blame on a fact-free basis.

Oh well if it's on the website it must be all above board.

Yes, the rates they pay the people through the books are on the website. They are clearly not going to advertise the cash-in-hand rate now, are they?

[vetran]

Oops, triggered.

https://growndirect.co.uk/vacancies/

wow £7-£8.50 an hour

nearly as much as Lidl pay in Yeovil on start £9.50 - £10.70

https://www.google.com/search?q=lidl...:1628697481360

Thrive are paying £17 an hour for class2 HGV drivers in Yeovil not £13.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hgv+...B0AAAAAA%3D%3D

[WTFH]

or are just sadly acquainted with the kind of tricks cheap employers play. From having to be there 30 minutes late unpaid for security purposes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/empl...-idUSL1N2FZ1OW



or expecting employees to purchase safety equipment and short changed on loo breaks.

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...employees-work



or maybe insisting employees pay for mandatory accomodation.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-1740207.html



there a few minutes googling got some facts you should try it.

Maybe we just know the facts better than some others?

Oops, triggered.

https://growndirect.co.uk/vacancies/

[vetran]

The pay rates are on the website. Above NMW, but customers want cheap products, so either lower paid staff or higher prices to customers.
Unfortunately the GBeebies generation prefer to blame on a fact-free basis.

or are just sadly acquainted with the kind of tricks cheap employers play. From having to be there 30 minutes late unpaid for security purposes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/empl...-idUSL1N2FZ1OW

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday said Apple Inc must pay more than 12,000 retail workers in California for time they spent going through security screenings at the end of their shifts.

or expecting employees to purchase safety equipment and short changed on loo breaks.

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...employees-work

It's been a black hole where the lack of any checks upon its power has left a sense that everything is pared to the absolute bone – from the cheapest of the cheap plastic safety boots, which most long-term employees seem to spend their own money replacing with something they can walk in, to the sack-you-if-you're-sick policy, to the 15-minute break that starts wherever you happen to be in the warehouse. On my third morning, at my lowest point, when my energy has run out and my spirits are low, it takes me six minutes to walk to the airport-style scanners, where I spend a minute being frisked. I queue a minute for the loos, get a banana out of my locker, sit down for 30 seconds, and then I get up and walk the six minutes back to my station.

or maybe insisting employees pay for mandatory accomodation.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-1740207.html

Each week S&A Produce, which is one of just nine operators of the Saws scheme appointed by the Government, deducts £31.22 for accommodation, which comprises either caravans or temporary "pods". The fruit pickers are also charged £2.75 a week for "entertainment", including internet access which some employees said rarely worked. Photographs of the computers handed to The Independent show that many have floppy disk drives, suggesting that they are at least seven years old.

The company also charges a "one-off" fee of £35 for "pastoral care", which includes helping employees make appointments with doctors or dentists and providing transport.

there a few minutes googling got some facts you should try it.

Maybe we just know the facts better than some others?

[WTFH]

Quite possibly they were paying below NMW under the table based on such places I've known

The pay rates are on the website. Above NMW, but customers want cheap products, so either lower paid staff or higher prices to customers.
Unfortunately the GBeebies generation prefer to blame on a fact-free basis.